Spark-controlling device for magneto ignition.



. H. H. LANNING. SPARK GONTROLLING mmm: PoR MAGNET@ IGNITION.APPLICATION FILED APR.5 1911.

L @6,953. Patented Aug. 1L 1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

H. H. LANNING. SEARK GONTROLLING DEVICE FOR MAGNET() IGNITION.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5,1911. 1,106,953. Patented Aug111,1914

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' www H. H. LANNING.-

SPARK CONTBOLLING DEVICE FOR MAGNET@ IGNITmN.

APLIOATIONFILED APR.5 .1911.

Patented Aug. H,

Mmm-SHEET s.

, :1MM/UMA UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

HOVARD LANNING, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF JACOES, OF TOPEKA,KANSAS.

- SPARK-CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR MAGNET@ lI`=rI\TIJION.

Application led April 5, 19M..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ang, ill., ld.

serial No. 619,094.

To ult iti/lomz't may conce/1n.:

Be it known that I, HOWARD H. LANNIXG, u citizen of the United States,and resident of Topeka, in the county of Shawnee and State of lansas,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Spark-Controlling'Devices for Magneto Ignition, of which the following is :i description,refe ence being had to the accompartying,r drew-- ings, which form epart of my specification.

My .invention relates to e device for ad vencing or controlling themoment or period of spin.' 'ne' or ignition induced by e. mag'- neto .inconnection with an internal combustion engine; end has for its objectthe production of simple mechanical means Where by the armature of :imagneto may be vcontrolled or shifted relatively to the crank or camshaft of the engine, so that when the armature is revolved or yset inoperation, the magnetic lines of force of the field will be cnt et theproper time to produce the maximum strength of spark, the inventionresulting in n device vvl'iereby any desired moment of' spark or pointof ignition in the compression cycle of an internal combustion eiwineymay beobtained, as Will more fully appear from the following detaileddescription,

in the drawings Fignre 1 is a to plan view of e Well known type or formo magneto with my improved device or driving mechanism attached thereto;the device or driving mechanism being shown in cross section. Fig. 2 ise side elevation of the magneto with my improved driving'mechanism orspark controlling device secured thereto; the magneto being shown inpartial longitudinal section, While :i portion of the casing or housingof .the driving mechanism isA shown broken away in order to disclose theinternal mechanism. Fig. 3 is e top plan view of e Well known type ofmagneto, showingl e modified construction in cross section di@ myinvention.

Mydevice may be used in connection with any of the various Well known'types of magnetos which form no part of my invention, so that e speciicdescription of the magneto itself need therefore not be entered into,except te stets, that the point `in the armature revolution, et whichthe interruption of the primary circuit occurs, must fined et such nrelation to the magnetic fields that all of the Wires of the armatureWill be cutting magnetic lines of force.

For the purpose of illustration, lieve shown the magneto l, preferablysecured on a bracket la, which may be east integrrti with the enginecrank case' as shown in l' the magneto however may be attached anysuitable marinier to the engine. c. scribing 'the construction shown inl end 2, it will be seen that the magneto armeture spindle 2 is providedwith a pinion sleeve 3, which may be securely fastened to the spindie 2-in any suit-able manner; for en ample, the spindle 2 may be tapered asshown, with the pinion sleeve 3 mede to conform therewith and securelyheld in place by the nut 4. If desired, the sleeve 3 may also be heldagainst rotation about the spindle 2 by e key in the Well known manneremployed for snch purposes.

The end of the spindle together with the mism to be hereinafterdescribed, is inclosed vby a suitable casing or housingr G, Which ispreferably cast integral with the engine crank-case or included in thecasing of the magneto. As the sleeve 3 is intended to revolve with thespindle 2, suitable bushing 5 is provided about the sleeve 3 and in theopening),f in the housing 6 as clearly shown in Fig. l. Secured to thepinion sleeve 3 are the pinions 7 7. These pinions 7, 7 may be securedto the sleeve 3 in any suitable manner, as for example sleeve 3 may, ifdesired, be provided with radially extending por-- tions or studs intowhich the bolts 7a, 7a, may be screwed and securely fastened in place.

lWith such a construction, suitable bushing of course is employed asshown at 16 and 17, to permit of the proper rotation of the at camshaftv speed, the driving gear 9 may be the cam shaft gear as shown, orit may be the crank shaft gear 1i more convenientn if it isdesired,'hoivever, to drive the armature at cam shaft speed or faster,as would be re quired :tor engines of four or more cylinders, on thetour-cycle principle, or for engines of `trvo or more cylinders, on thetwo-cycle principle, then the member or sleeve 3 Which -carries thepinions 7, 7, should be the stationary member, and be connected to themember or lever 12, and the member or gear 11 be secured to tl spindleof the armature and become the armature driving member.'

The member or gear El is adapted to rotate independently of sleeve 3,and I therefore provide bushing 10 ot suitable material. A member orgear 11 is provided to the opposite side of the pinions 7, 7 and isloosely mounted Withi die housing or, casing G, as clearly shown inFig. 1. This gear is shown provided with a spindle 11E, which takesthrough and-has suitable bearing in the side of the casing G, as clearlyshown; the outer end of the spindle 11a, being provided with' tate theidler or driven gear 8 which in turn will rotate pinions 7, 7, about4their axes. As these pinions 7, 7, mesh With the gear 11, which isnormally stationary, it is evident that pinions 7, 7, will also becompelled to move through a circle or orbit and thus ro` tate armature 2through the medium of pi o ion sleeve 3.

llfhen the control member' or lever 12 is heldstationary, and thepinions 7, 7, are driven by the gear 8, the armature will ini tiallyremain inthe samerelative position with respect to its magnetic ield. Byshitting the lever 12, the gear 11 will 'be moved, thereby impartingmovement to the pinions 7, 7, relative to the orbit or circle described,either advancing or retarding their progress along the Orbit i l "77 ithgear 11 stationz'try, which is its normal condition until it is desiredto shift the armature of the magneto With relation to the iield, gear 8vvill travel at `inst twice speed that the pinions 7 7 will drive pinionsleeve 3, together with the armature of the magneto; the arrangement ofthe gear being such that the idler or driven gear 8 will `rotate tivorevolutions to one revolution ot the linagusto armature.

meseta ln the modifications shown in Fig. 3, it will be seen thatdriving gear 9 meshes with, and rotates, gear 8, as previouslydescribed, and gear 8 meshes vvith pinions 7, 7, secured to the memberor lspider 3a. The member or spider 3 is normally stationary and is provided with the spindle 3b to vvhichlever 12 is secured. It is ot courseunderstood that the pinions 7, 7, rotate upon their respective axes.Pinions 7, 7, in turn mesh with the gear 11b, which in this constructionis secured to the spindle of the armature. lWhen this construction isemployed, in order to advance or retard the moment ot' sparking, lever12 must be moved in the proper directioii Which will compel member 3awith the pinions 7, 7, to rotate, and by reason of the tact that gear 8is held stationary by driving gear 9, gear 11b Will be'coinpelled tomove in the same direction With member or spider 3 and thereby rotatethe armature accordingly.

It is evident from the construction shown and described that .thedifferential motion, which may be obtained by the arrangement of thedriving mechanism of the magneto, is such that the control lever 12should be moved twice the distance of the desired movement or rotationof the armature, in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2; or, Whenthe construction shown in Fig., 3 is employed, lever 12 should bev movedjust half the distance of the desired movement or rotation of thearmature. For example, should it be desired to advance the spark orignition point, that is, to hasten the moment 'ot cutting the lines' offorce of the field by the armature, referring novv to the constructionshown in Figs. 1 `and 2, lever 12 must be moved in a direction that Willrotate gear 11 in the same direction as that of idler or dr'ven Q: thiswill increase the speed of member 3 and necessarily increase the speedot pinions 7 7, in their movement through the circle or orbit; but whenthe construction shown in Fig. 3 is employed, lever 12 must be moved ina direction that Will rotate-member 3f the moment of cutting themagnetic lines bye the armature, referring again to Figs. 1 and' 2,lever 12 must be moved in the opposite direction, thereby necessarilyrotating gear 11 in the direction opposite'to the movement of gear 8;the diii'erential movement resulting in a' greater length of time beingconsumed by pinions 7 7, in describing their circle or orbit. I vancingthe spark, lever 12 sho twice 'the distance nece the armature to retardpoint the desired degr;

Vvhen it is desired to namely delay the momemJ ive or shift or ignitionthe spari/,

As in the ont ld be moved icutting the y. that such rotation of themember or spider 3 and its pinions 7 7, will compel gear 11b, togetherwith the armature, toirotate in the same direction, thereby causing thearmature to be moved backward a certain distance and delay the moment ofcutting the magnetic lines of force by the armature. lhen using theconstruction shown in Fig. 3, lever 12 should be moved just half thedistance it is desired to rotate the armature, as previously stated inconnection with the description -oi the device when it isv intended'toadvance the moment of sparking.

'it is evident from the constructions that any desired advancement orretardationof the spark or ignition point may be effected without.interering with the speed of -the driv'og and driven members or gears,by the rotation of the gear or member 11, with construction shown. inFigs. 1 and 2, or rotation of member 33 in the construction shown inFig. 3, through the manipulation of lever 12; so that, in order toobtain complete combustion and a resultant maximum at the beginning ofthe power stroke oi 'the piston, where the engine is operating at a slowspeed, the moment or" ignition is retarded by what may be termed areverse movement of lever 12, causing a greater period of time to beconsumed by the pinions T, 7, in describing the circle or orbit in Figs.i and 2; or causing more time be consumed by il, in Fig. 3, in

completing its revolution; while on the other hand, where the speed ofthe engine increases, the moment of ignition must be advanced or madeearlier, which is induced by the forward movement of lever 12, therebycausing a lesser period of time to consumed by pinions 7, 7, indescribing .the circle or orbit with the construction V*imvvifi in Figs.l and 2; or causing the gear "r to be advanced in its revolution whenthe construction shown in Fig.

l have shown Aand described what I bein n ' lieve to be the. simplestand best forms of,

1W ith my invention however, the revolv' lmy invention for producing theresults thereby obtained; aslthe constructions however may be varied 1ncertain minor details without departing from the spirit or" myinvention, l do not wish to be understood as a limiting myself totheexact constructions shown and described, but

What I claim and wish to secure ters Patent is:

1. A spark controlling device for magneto ignition, comprising, incombination with a driving gear, a train of gears, a portion oi' saidgears being connected with the armature and arranged to rotate aboutaxes extending by Letat right/anglesto the armature and also to movethrough a circle or orbit, a normally stationary gear meshing with thegears connected With the armature, and means for operating said'normally stationary gear where by movement is imparted to the portion cigears connected with the armature independent of that imparted theretoby the remaining portion of said train of gears.

2. A spark controlling deviceior magneto ignition, comprising a setfofindependently vmovable gears, means connected with the armature andadapted to be controlled by said gears, one of said gears acting as thepower imparting gear, while the other gear is normallystationary andadapted to im, part independent movement to said means and control therelation of the armature to the crank-shaft of the engine withoutaffecting the number of lines of force of the mag netic field cut by thearmature and means for i.,

operating said normally stationary gear.

3. Aspa'rk controlling device for magnetic ignition, compi ising, incombination with the armature of a magneto having a stationary field, apair of independent, oppositely disposed gears, meansoperativelyrconnected with the armature and arranged between the pair ofgears, and means connected with one of said gears, which gear isnormally stationary, whereby the latter may be moved in either directionindependently of the moveu ment of the opposite gear and thereby impartmovement to the means independent of the movement given thereto by theoppositely disposed gear and thereby control the .i

movement of cutting the magnetic lines of force by thel armature.

4L. In combination with the armature of a magneto having a stationaryfield, a spark controlling device comprising means extending at rightangles to the armature and operatively connectedtherewith, said meansbe- 'ing adapted to rotate about an axis and also to describe a circlewhose center is coincident i with the axis of the armature, mechanism arranged inoperative relation with said means whereby the latter isrotated and moved. about the circle, and normally stationarymeansengaging with said first mentioned means whereby the latter may becontrolled a magneto, a spark controlling device comel prising aseriesgof members whereby the armature is rotated;- the 'intermediate'portion .of said jseriesl of members 4'being ar ranged to rotate: onindependent: axes and to Vdescribe an orbitwhile another portion' ofsaid series s normally stationary and so related to the other portion ofsaid series of members that it will cause a relative reduction in speedbetween the driving member of the series of members and the armature,while movement of said stationary portion of series of members willinduce dil'erential motion and cause the moment of sparking to be eitheradvanced or retarded, and means for controlling the normally stationaryportion of said series of members.

6. In combination with a magneto having a stationary field and thearmature, a spark controlling device comprising aseries of rotating,meshing members intermediate off ay' member driven by the engine and thearma/f'l ture, one of said members being normally held against rotationand causing a relative reduction in speed between the member driven bythe engine and' the armaturen/and means whereby said member may bemovedl in either a forward or backward direction and similar movementgiven tothe member connected with the armature.

7. A spark controllingl device, for magneto ignition, comprising acasing@ .a series of meshing members arranged within said casing, oneportion` of the series .being normally stationary but with all or themembers adapted to move about a common axis, while a portion of theseries of members has additional movement/y about an' anis extendingperpendicular :to the iirst mentioned axis, the portion or theserieswhich is normally .stationary being provided with a spindleextendingthrough the side wall of the casing, means whereby a bearingfor said spindle is provided and late-ral movement thereof preventedrand means secured to said spindle wheryioy the .latter together withsaid portion/fof series of members attached thereto may be given anindependent movement either forward or backward and thereby control therelation of the armature to the crank-shaft of the engine withoutaffecting the number of lines of force of the magnetic field cut by thearmature.

HOWARD H. LANNTNG Witnesses R. E, WIGHTON, o GEORGE HEIDMAN.

